John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy

Traces The Naval Hero's Modest Scottish Origins, The Circumstances That Brought Him To America Under A Charge Of Murder And A False Name, His Sea Battle Achievements, And His Acclaim By Such Figures As Washington, Jefferson, Adams, And Franklin. My Desire For Fame Is Infinite -- You Meet A Gentleman -- That Great Misfortune -- Proof Of Madness -- Determined At All Hazards -- Delicate Notions Of Honor -- A Rash Thing -- Officer Of Fine Feelings -- Lay It In Ashes -- We've Got Her Now! -- No Sooner Seen Than Lost -- Caressed By All The World -- The Gale Still Increasing -- Cover Him With Kisses -- Conquer Or Die -- The Ghost Of Himself -- Envy Of The World. Evan Thomas. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 361-368) And Index. The New York Times bestseller from master biographer Evan Thomas brings to life the tumultuous story of the father of the American Navy. John Paul Jones, at sea and in the heat of the battle, was the great American hero of the Age of Sail. He was to history what Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower are to fiction. Ruthless, indomitable, clever; he vowed to sail, as he put it, "in harm's way." Evan Thomas's minute-by-minute re-creation of the bloodbath between Jones's Bonhomme Richard and the British man-of-war Serapis off the coast of England on an autumn night in 1779 is as gripping a sea battle as can be found in any novel. Drawing on Jones's correspondence with some of the most significant figures of the American Revolution—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson—Thomas's biography teaches us that it took fighters as well as thinkers, men driven by dreams of personal glory as well as high-minded principle, to break free of the past and start a new world. Jones's spirit was classically American. John Paul Jones, at sea and in the heat of the battle, was the great American hero of the Age of Sail. He was to history what Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower are to fiction. Ruthless, indomitable, clever; he vowed to sail, as he put it, "in harm's way." Evan Thomas's minute-by-minute re-creation of the bloodbath between Jones's Bonhomme Richard and the British man-of-war Serapis off the coast of England on an autumn night in 1779 is as gripping a sea battle as can be found in any novel. Drawing on Jones's correspondence with some of the most significant figures of the American Revolution -- John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson -- Thomas's biography teaches us that it took fighters as well as thinkers, men driven by dreams of personal glory as well as high-minded principle, to break free of the past and start a new world. Jones's spirit was classically American. - Back cover.

john Paul Jones, At Sea And In The Heat Of Battle, Was The Great American Hero Of The Age Of Sail. He Was To History What Patrick O'brian's Jack Aubrey And C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower Are To Fiction. Ruthless, Indomitable, Clever; He Vowed To Sail, As He Put It, In Harm's Way.

the New York Times

as Mr. Thomas Tracks The Man Born John Paul (he Added The Jones To Escape Punishment For A Deadly Fight) From The Atlantic To France And The British Isles, He Displays Ardent Interest In Sail Appeal. Mr. Thomas Knows That Futtocks Are Ribbing In A Ship's Frame, And That Jones Fought In The Dumpy Bonhomme Richard, With Her Antiquated High Poop Deck. And He Ably Captures The Slow, Mounting Terror Of Battle At Sea. — janet Maslin

Introduction : "My desire for fame is infinite" "You meet a gentleman" "That great misfortune" "Proof of madness" "Determined at all hazards" "Delicate notions of honor" "A rash thing" "Officer of fine feelings" "Lay it in ashes" "We've got her now!" "No sooner seen than lost" "Caressed by all the world" "The gale still increasing" "Cover him with kisses" "Conquer or die" "The ghost of himself" Epilogue : "Envy of the world" John Paul Sr. was a manager as well as an artist.